


I've Been Fuckin' Around While You Were Saving The World

by lydiathebanshee



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Concerts, M/M, Singer Grantaire, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 02:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8127035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydiathebanshee/pseuds/lydiathebanshee
Summary: “Okay, fine!” Enjolras snapped, throwing his hands up. “What is everyone talking about, why is everyone so excited, and where the hell is Grantaire?”-Basically everything is the same, Modern AU, except Grantaire is a really popular indie singer that everyone knows about except Enjolras.All credit goes to Hugo and to both Robert Delong and Jaymes Young for their songs, "Long Way Down" and "I'll Be Good," which inspired this fic.





	

It’s a Friday meeting, which meant that everyone was bound to be a little antsy anyways, but Enjolras expected better from his friends.

Feuilly chattered excitedly to Musichetta and Bahorel and even Combeferre and Courfeyrac were shifting in their seats next to Enjolras.

And, for some reason, Grantaire wasn’t there. He hadn’t missed a single meeting since the beginning of Les Amis, and Enjolras was confused. Granted, he could have just drank too much the night before, but usually he came in even if he had a hangover.

“Okay, fine!” Enjolras snapped, throwing his hands up. “What is everyone talking about, why is everyone so excited, and where the hell is Grantaire?”

Cosette giggled and Marius opened his mouth to start talking, but she slapped a hand over his mouth.

Enjolras glared at them both, “What is _happening_.”

Courfeyrac stood up and nodded at the group, and cleared his throat dramatically. “Grantaire has a concert tonight. It’s sold out. He’s at sound check right now.”

Enjolras blinked hard. “A concert for what?”

Eponine sighed, “He’s a singer. Really good one too, not that you’d have noticed. Anyways, tonight’s his big break, and he just landed a contract with one of the bigger agencies so he might be leaving soon to tour.”

Enjolras’s jaw dropped slightly. “Meeting dismissed.”

He sat down, confused as to why he was feeling so distressed. He tugged on Courfeyrac’s jacket sleeve.

“Courf, I want to go tonight. To R’s concert.” Courfeyrac smirked.

“Good thing we bought you a ticket in case you ever found out about it.”

Enjolras rolled his eyes. “What type of music does Grantaire sing?”

“He posts his covers on YouTube and stuff, sometimes, but he has been working on an album pretty rigorously for the past five months or so. He’s like an indie slash electronic slash folk slash punk star. It’s awesome.”

Luckily, Enjolras didn’t have to wait long until the concert. The Les Amis were planning on going to dinner beforehand and then going to the concert together afterwards. Enjolras was a little hurt that they didn’t bother to include him before, but he understood why. He hadn’t exactly shown an interest, and music had never been important to him.

They ate at an Italian place, much to Eponine’s dismay.

“I could literally make this at home and not spend any money,” she sighed, glaring at Enjolras, as if it was his fault.

He frowned back at her and she huffed and continued to eat. After the check came, everyone bustled quickly out of the restaurant.

They made their way over to the one of the theaters nearby, which to Enjolras’s shock could hold upwards of 1,000 people. If Grantaire could influence one thousand people here, what could he do abroad, what could he do as an activist… His influence could strengthen the Les Amis’s cause exponentially.

Shaking himself out of his trance, Enjolras looked at the setlist which had been given him. He was doing mostly covers, but two songs off of his new album which he didn’t name on the paper. Also, Grantaire didn’t have an opening act, and went by the stage name Grandest Air.

Enjolras laughed a little as they walked to their seats, which were in the fifth row. Evidently Grantaire told them to get tickets there if they could because he couldn’t see the first four rows due to the lighting. He didn’t want them buying tickets at all, but if they were going to, he wanted to see them.

Soon, the lights dimmed, and Grantaire came onto stage. The audience went berserk, filled with people of varying ages from tween to late twenties.

He was dressed like he would be for a Les Amis meeting, wearing black jeans, combat boots, and a green sweater. The only difference was that he was wearing sharp eyeliner and his face seemed to glitter.

Techno music began playing in the background, and Eponine hissed, “Fuck, yes,” before Grantaire brushed his hair away from his face and began to sing.

“ _I’ve been fuckin’ around while you’ve been saving the world,_ ” he rasped, and Enjolras’s breath hitched. He knew that Grantaire had always had a strange sort of fascination with him, he’d seen some of his drawings, but for him to mock him on stage like this was rude.

“ _I’ve been out of my mind, I’ve been dreaming things and scheming things…_ ” He accented his phrases with a cruel snarl of his lips, and continued.

“ _I’ve been smoking the poison, you’ve been slinging your anecdotes_ ,” he rolled his eyes and grabbed the microphone off of the stand, walking across the stage with a confidence Enjolras had never seen him have.

“ _I’ve been fuckin’ around while you were saving the world… from nothing._ ” And okay, Enjolras was hooked. Grantaire had combined his cynicism with his artistic talent and the end result was admirable.

Eventually, the song morphed into just techno, and Grantaire continued to dance across the stage and seemed to mock the idea of goodness.

The song ended and Grantaire grinned crookedly at the audience.

“Hey,” he started off, then waiting for the clapping to subside. “I’m Grantaire, yeah, Grandest Air, and how many of us are in love with people we know we can’t have?”

Grantaire laughed, walking slightly off stage to grab a stool and his guitar. “ _Anyways_ , that was one of my new songs off of my album. The song is called ‘Long Way Down’ but the album is called ‘Wretched’ and will be released in July, July 14th.”

Enjolras’s mouth was slightly open again. July fourteenth, Bastille Day, and Enjolras’s birthday, was the day Grantaire chose to release his album. The universe felt like it was spinning in reverse.

Eponine was staring at Enjolras. He could feel it. He turned to look at her and she stared at him blankly.

“Courfeyrac,” Enjolras whispered, turning to look at his friend. “Have I been missing this very important detail for a very long time?”

“What detail?” Courfeyrac asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

Enjolras felt like he’d been hit by a car. He swayed slightly, looking back over at Eponine, who nodded.

Grantaire’s voice broke through his reverie. “I’m going to be playing a few more covers, then finishing with my other single, ‘I’ll Be Good.’”

Enjolras listened attentively to every song Grantaire sung, and sooner than Enjolras would have liked it was time for him to play his single.

“Uh, okay, so this whole album has been a pretty emotional rollercoaster for me and for my friends that have supported me while I was writing it,” Grantaire laughed slightly, then sighed.

“This song is about my past struggles and how I want to become better. Because, you know, who doesn’t want to become better? If not for themselves, then for someone else. So yeah. ‘I’ll Be Good.’”

He started strumming slowly, all traces of a confident facade gone. He stared into the back of the hall, eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“ _I thought I saw the devil this morning, looking in the mirror, drop of rum on my tongue with the warning to help me see myself clearer._ ”

He continued to sing, exhaling softly. At the chorus, he locked eyes with Enjolras, eyes sharp. “ _I’ll be a better man today. I’ll be good, I’ll be good, and I’ll love the world like I should._ ”

Enjolras felt like he couldn’t breathe. He nodded at Grantaire, trying to tell him that he knows, and he didn’t understand before, but he does now and he wants the same thing that Grantaire does, with everything he has. He couldn’t stand if Grantaire left him behind.

There was silence as Grantaire sang the final words, and his words seemed to hang in the air. The audience exploded, and Enjolras felt like he couldn’t hear any of them. Grantaire nodded at him, once, almost imperceptive. Enjolras exhaled slightly.

Grantaire left the stage and the crowd began to yell for an encore. As Grantaire returned, Eponine grabbed his arm from the two seats down, “If you fuck this up, I will fuck you up so badly that you have to go to a fucking hospital. He’s the closest he’s been to happy in the four years I’ve known him. Don’t ruin that for him.”

Enjolras shook his head at her, incredulous, “Why would I fuck it up?”

She thinned her lips and inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement.

Grantaire laughed as he returned, the sound light and airy.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me! I’m going to do something more upbeat to end the night. Here’s another cover, The Wombats’s ‘Be Your Shadow!’”

Even Enjolras knew this song, and he danced awkwardly to the music as Grantaire played the song acoustically. Every song Grantaire played, Enjolras could imagine was about him. It made him feel like a groupie, but it sent a chill down his spine as he felt like he was a part of the show.

The Amis waited for the crowd to disperse before making their way backstage, Eponine simply nodding at the man in front of the door in order to get them in.

They had to meander down a dark hallway to get to the backstage area where Grantaire sat, but each of the Amis got to congratulate Grantaire on his performance. Enjolras, obviously, chose to go last, because he felt like his congrats needed to be slightly more personal.

“Hey,” Grantaire sighed, tugging at his curls. “What’d you think of the show, Oh Fearless Leader?”

“I’m in love with you and I think you’re incredible,” Enjolras blurted, then covered his mouth as if he didn’t mean to say it. Well, he did mean to say it, but more eloquently.

The Amis stopped talking around them and turned to stare at Enjolras.

“Fucking finally,” Eponine sighed, rolling her eyes, “Let’s leave these two boys alone.” She grabbed onto Combeferre and Courfeyrac, who both look equally as shocked as Grantaire. The rest of the Amis filed out after them, Jehan sighing happily and blowing kisses to Grantaire.

“I’m sorry if I just made you uncomfortable.” Enjolras said, feeling very self-conscious as Grantaire continued to stare at him.

“ _Uncomfortable_?” Grantaire laughed out, voice pitched at a higher octave than was normal.  “Jesus Christ, Enjolras, I’ve been in love with you for years, I wrote a fucking album about you, and you’re talking about making me _uncomfortable_.”

Enjolras bit his lip. “I’m… sorry?” He ventured, eyebrows furrowed.

Grantaire inhaled shakily and stood up. “I want to kiss you right now. Please tell me that that is okay and that it’s something you want too.”

Enjolras nodded rapidly and Grantaire smiled incredulously, looking more shocked and pleased than before. He crossed the distance between them and kissed Enjolras, his lips chapped and sure. One of Grantaire’s hands was cradling Enjolras’s face, holding him, and the other was on his hip.

Enjolras whimpered against Grantaire’s lips, and Grantaire moaned in response, tugging Enjolras impossibly closer.

Enjolras pulled back slightly to whisper, “Grantaire, I’ve never done this before,” but it only caused Grantaire to look at him reverently before kissing him once again, more chastely this time.

“Enjolras,” Grantaire said, stepping backwards. “I love you. I’m leaving for tour at the end of the year, though.”

Nodding, Enjolras sighed, “Is it bad that I think I have a plan that might work?”

Grantaire raised an eyebrow, “I’m listening…”

“So, you’re touring North America, but I could come with you. Try to be politically active, run a group alongside you.”

“You mean you’d stay with me on a bus for six months talking about politics while I sing about you?”

Enjolras sighed, “If we don’t hate each other by the end of it, we’ll be able to handle each other forever.”

Grantaire’s eyes widened, “Don’t say things you don’t mean, Apollo.”

“I always say what I mean. And don’t call me Apollo.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I might make this into a Real Thing, chapter it and everything, if feedback is good. I want to play around with tour dynamic, and obviously Eponine would be coming. Let me know what you think!


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